Fabrication of electronic circuit elements using liquid deposition techniques is of profound interest as such techniques provide potentially low-cost alternatives to conventional mainstream amorphous silicon technologies for electronic applications such as thin film transistors (TFTs), light-emitting diodes (LEDs), RFID tags, photovoltaics, etc. However the deposition and/or patterning of functional electrodes, pixel pads, and conductive traces, lines and tracks which meet the conductivity, processing, and cost requirements for practical applications have been a great challenge. Silver is of particular interest as conductive elements for electronic devices because silver is much lower in cost than gold and it possesses much better environmental stability than copper. There is therefore a critical need, addressed by embodiments of the present invention, for lower cost methods and composition that are suitable for fabricating electrically conductive feature or elements of electronic devices.
The following documents provide background information:
Takamatsu, U.S. Pat. No. 6,197,366 B1.
Kodas et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,951,666 B2.
Yiliang Wu et al., Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20050129843A1 (corresponding to Attorney Docket No. A3401-US-NP).
Yuning Li et al., Published U.S. patent application Ser. No. 20060073667A1 (corresponding to Attorney Docket No. 20040823-US-NP).